answer:For me, I started yoga for the physical benefits, but I found the mental benefits akin to what @thorninmud explains on your meditation question. Yoga is undertaken as a practice, it is something that you do to focus your body and mind onto the goal of the best pose you can do in that moment. You are not thinking about the previous pose, or the next pose. You are not thinking about the last time you worked on this pose, or the next time you will do it. You are focused on getting to the pose as best you can and breathing through it. I find yoga a more effective form of meditation than the traditional sitting in silence that most people think of when they contemplate meditation. When I just focus on the breath, I tend to fall asleep. By focusing on the pose and the breath, I remain awake and I am totally in that moment the way mediation is supposed to be. With my history of body issues from being molested as a child and now with a degenerative medical condition, connecting with my body and learning to appreciate what it can do and accept what it can’t have also been beneficial to my overall well-being.